


A Year In the Life: Bonus Scenes

by kaybee



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Adoption, Anal Sex, Attempted Murder, Bipolar Disorder, Bisexual Male Character, Breakup, Canon-Typical Violence, Consensual Underage Sex, Death, Drunk Sex, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Family, Family Feels, First Dates, Fluff and Smut, Gay Sex, Gun Violence, Humanstuck, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Smut, Terminal Illnesses, Underage Drinking, Underage Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2018-08-08 05:38:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7745332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaybee/pseuds/kaybee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Basically these are scenes I /wanted/ to fit into the main narrative but never found a place for or things that take place outside the main timeline. (If anyone has requests of things I mentioned in ANY of the main fics that didn't get explored, let me know)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Adopted Talk

     Sollux sat down on the couch, next to Simon, who was being very quiet. His fingers were tented, as if he were about to say something delicate. Well, Sollux knew the subject was delicate. That was probably why his dads didn’t like to talk about it. It’d been a couple years since he’d first mentioned his birth parents to Simon, at Mr. Vantas’ funeral, and Simon never really seemed comfortable talking about it, but Sollux had received a text from him earlier that week that said ‘you’re 16 and should know about this.’  
It was definitely a weighted silence between the two as Simon pondered how to phrase things delicately, but Sollux was feeling fidgety and impatient the longer Simon took to think.  
     “Simon…” Sollux muttered. He didn’t want to be rude, and he knew it wasn’t really Simon’s job to tell him about this, either, but he wasn’t getting any answers from his dads.  
    “Sorry, this is just… I haven’t talked about this in a long time,” Simon answered. Sollux raised an eyebrow. “So. I have to start with this statement, Sollux: People do stupid things when they’re young. Because that’s where this all starts; someone doing something stupid because they were too young and reckless to know any better.” Sollux had a lingering feeling in his stomach about the direction Simon’s story was about to take. Simon seemed to recognize it in his eyes when the two looked at each other. Sollux’s tongue was in tangles; he had to fight with it before he could get his next question out.  
      “Simon… is this… is this story about you?”  
      A beat of silence.  
      “Yes.” Sollux was caught halfway between shock and rage. Part of him wanted to be upset that Simon had never told him, wanted to scream and rant about lying by omission and how could he never know about that? And the other part of him was just feeling how fast his heart was beating. Everything began to make sense. Their inexplicable bond, the mass of similarities they had. People even said bipolarity was genetic. Everything was beginning to add up. Sollux sat in that moment of shock, both him and Simon in utter silence, until Sollux forced himself to take a breath.  
     “Okay. That… that makes sense, I think.”  
     Simon looked at him, utterly befuddled. “Makes sense?”  
     “I mean. Of course it does. What- what- what happened? Why would you… I mean… why would you have them adopt me?”  
     “Like I said, people do stupid things when they’re young. How large do you think the age gap between me and my brother is?”  
     Sollux shrugged. “I ‘unno. I know you’re younger than da- than him.” With the new information, using the word ‘Dad’ to refer to Carl or Barry just felt wrong. “Maybe a few years?”  
     “It’s about 9 years, actually. So when the two of them got married, when Carl was 24, and started a family when he was 26, I was barely graduating high school.”  
     “So… where does doing something stupid come into play here?”  
     “I’m getting there. I was with this girl, at prom, and… gosh, this is going to sound terrible. I wasn’t that into her, to be honest. I didn’t want to go to prom by myself but didn’t really have the guts to ask the girl I had a massive crush on. I waited, and waited, and then she had a date. So I asked this other girl out. Sadie… Sadie Manbavaran or something like that. And I mean, she was certainly attractive, and she was fun, and we did get pretty close during some of the dances,” Simon let out a low chuckle and Sollux grimaced. “Now, after prom there was a party, and we went, and we drank, and I got this stupid, stupid idea in my head that if I didn’t have sex before I graduated, I was somehow less of a man.”  
     “Sounds like something Cronus would say.”      
     “You’re not far off. That’s the kind of shit Duncan used to say to me.”  
     “Really? Guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”  
     Simon laughed. “You couldn’t be more right. A lot of your friends seem to take after their parents. I could tell you some stories about Suzanne. But, anyway, I must have fumbled with the condom… to be honest I don’t remember exactly what happened that night. Definitely should have waited until I was sober to lose my virginity; that much is for sure.”  
     “Add that to the list of things I didn’t need to know, Simon.”  
     “Anyway. So… yeah. She told me she was pregnant. We were 17 and 18, and definitely not ready for a family, but she was too scared to… well. You know. And… and your dads had just adopted Mituna not too long before that, when he was around 3, and were talking about trying to get a second kid, so… I just talked to Carl and got all the legal papers done, and… yeah.”  
     “What… what happened to Sadie?”  
     “Oh, Sadie was crazy smart. Went off to an Ivy League or something. I always did think you had her brain.”  
     Sollux was quiet for a long time as he processed all that new information. He wanted to be angry, but he wasn’t. He couldn’t imagine being in Simon’s situation, at the age of 17. He chewed on the inside of his lip, trying to silence his thoughts for a moment “I…” Sollux started. “Um. Thanks for telling me, I guess,” he said, beginning to stand from the couch.  
     “Sollux.”  
     “What?”  
     “Sit back down.” Sollux did as he was told. “Don’t make the same mistakes I did. You and Aradia aren’t, um...” Simon cleared his throat to emphasize his point.  
     “Ah! No. No, no. I think… I don’t think we’re ready.”  
     “Well when you are, be safe. Be sober and be safe.”  
     Sollux groaned. He hated talking about sex with adults. Even when Karkat would tell him about it, it felt weird. “Okay, Simon. I will. I mean. Dad.”  
     “You don’t have to call me Dad, Sollux.”  
     “Oh, good. I just mean. I’m used to calling you Simon.”  
     “I think I like that better anyway,” Simon said, grinning a bit. Sollux smiled back at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a little bonus scene between Simon and Sollux. I mentioned their relationship in the notes once, but I really wanted to write the scene out.


	2. Growing Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sollux deals with growing pains

               Sollux remembered the day he went to the optometrist. He was really young, but he remembered. He remembered the way the doctor looked at him when studying his eyes. Apparently them being two different colors was really unusual. The doctor squinted again as he lowered the phoropter in front of Sollux, and asked him questions about a series of slides. “A or B?” he said, and sometimes Sollux couldn’t tell, so he would alternate between the two, and hoped the doctor wouldn’t notice. He sat quietly as his fathers were ushered into the room to talk about the results. They seemed to speak about Sollux as though he were not sitting in the room with them, something which frustrated him, even at the age of 6, to no end.  
               “…clear he does need glasses, though his prescription in each eye varies. Probably due to the heterochromia,” the doctor said. Sollux heard one of his fathers sigh, and the other mutter.  
               “Must run in the family.”  
               Sollux hopped out of the chair and moved towards the voices, though he did almost walk into a wall on the way. Mituna, his older brother, let out a laugh.  
               “He really _can’t_ see, oh my god!”  
               Sollux scowled in the general direction he thought Mituna was in, then tugged on his dad’s shirt. “Dad, do I need glasses? And… and what’s heterochromia?”  
               His father chuckled at him. “You know how your eyes are two different colors?”  
               “Yeah.”  
               “That’s all that means. And… yeah, you do need glasses.”  
               Sollux wasn’t downtrodden by that news. In fact, he was a little excited. After the doctor finished explaining things, Sollux tugged his dads back out into the main room to pick his frames out. He settled on small, ovular frames that were the slightest bit too large for his tiny face, and wore them with joy once his lenses were put in.

 

The orthodontist 5 years later did not have such luck with Sollux Captor. As he grew, he realized that he _was_ different. He was different in more than one way, as several kids pointed out, and Sollux became aware of his oddities. His teeth grew in crooked and his eyes were weird and he had a lisp and dorky-looking glasses, and it all made Sollux feel like a bit of a freak. So when his fathers took Sollux to the orthodontist to get braces, Sollux was not pleased about it.  
               “As if I need something _else_ to make me stick out,” he said, hissing at his fathers. Mituna sat in the back seat next to him, wearing only one of the headphones plugged into his Gameboy. Sollux leaned over in his seat, watching as Mituna played _Pokemon Fire Red._ “Catch a Beedrill, Tuna!”  
               “I’ve got one.”  
               “You love bees more than _I_ do…” Sollux’s voice trailed.  
               “His name is Sollux.”  
               “Aw.”  
               “Cause he’s pretty dumb and useless in battle.”  
               Sollux fidgeted in his seat, wanting to wrestle with Mituna over the comment. “You buttmunch!” Sollux shouted.  
               “Boys, be nice to each other,” Barry chided.  
               “He said I’m usless!”  
               “I did not!!”  
               “Mituna, apologize. Sollux, sit still.”  
               Sollux huffed a bit as Mituna muttered an apology.

The orthodontist, when everything was finished, pointed out that he’d put in red and blue rubber bands, having been informed that those were the boy’s favorite colors.  
               “But, if you don’t like them, we can change the colors when you come in to get the wires tightened,” he said to Sollux.  
               “How often does he need to get the wires tightened?” Carl asked.  
               “Every six weeks.”  
               Sollux investigated himself in the hallway mirror, particularly the metal now cemented to his teeth. He ran his tongue over the braces, feeling them grate against it. He couldn’t help but be aware of how they felt in his mouth. That, plus the glasses, plus being half-Korean (he thought; being adopted made that kind of genealogy difficult to determine) he felt like he was fulfilling some kind of stereotype. He already knew things were going to be rough.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From Candymouse22: Could I request a smol Sollux? Sorry if it's vague.
> 
> I hope this fulfills your request! Sorry its really short ^^'


	3. The Letter

               “Mom! Mom! Look what I found!” Aradia cheered, running into the house. Her mother chuckled, looking up from her book.  
               “What did you find, darling?” she said, a warm smile on her face as she brought herself down to Aradia’s level. The girl was holding a chicken bone that, unbeknownst to her, Rachel had buried in the backyard for that specific reason.  
               “It’s a… it’s a rib? Or some kind of leg bone,” Aradia said, still beaming as she investigated her finding. Rachel laughed, then picked Aradia up and sat back down on the barstool, setting Aradia on her knee.  
               “You hear that, Daniel? Our daughter’s made a great discovery!” Rachel called into the other room.  
               “Another one?” Aradia’s father called as he crossed into the kitchen, leaning on the counter across from the girls. “Aha! Lookit that. She’s a regular… what’s ‘is name? Howard Carter.”  
               “Who’s Howard Carter?” Aradia asked, still playing with the bone.  
               “He’s the one that found that, uh, what’s it? Tutunknani or somethin’.”  
               “Tutankhamun, sweetheart,” Rachel corrected.  
               “Yeah, yeah, that famous Egyptian mummy dude.”  
               Rachel chuckled again, running a hand through Aradia’s hair. “Daniel, you’re going to be at work tonight, right?”  
               “Yeah, Spence and the guys are comin’ in to town.”  
               Rachel raised an eyebrow. “Don’t let Spencer rope you into any trouble.” Daniel grunted, presumably in agreement, but Rachel shifted in her seat as the doorbell rang. Aradia hopped down first, racing to the front door.  
               “Tavvy!” Aradia called, Rachel coming up behind her, opening the door to let in Tavros and his mother.  
               “Good morning, Magnolia,” she smiled.  
               “Hi, Rachel!”  
               The two moms hugged, and Aradia tugged Tavros into the house. “Uh, hi, Aradia,” Tavros said, grinning a bit sheepishly.  
               “Did you bring your Pokémon cards?”  
               “Yeah!”  
               The two kids poured all their cards out onto the floor in preparation for a match, and Rachel and Magnolia giggled.  
               “Mags, could you just watch them for a minute? I’m going to check the mail real quick.”  
               “Oh, of course!”  
               The most notable piece of mail was from Rachel’s doctor. Results on her last test. She felt her heart pounding for a moment, then she took a breath and tossed the mail aside on the table. It could wait, at least until Aradia’s playdate was over.

 

               Rachel waited up that night, long after Aradia was asleep, for Daniel to come home from the bar. She hoped the boys didn’t get him into too much trouble, and she was incredibly afraid of her results. Her mind was not her own, there were memories missing, and vague hallucinations, and neurological diseases were never easy to pin down. She sat on the edge of the bed, staring at nothing. Her balance felt off; she didn’t want to stand up, but she made herself do so when Daniel came through the bedroom door. He smelled the slightest bit of whiskey, but wasn’t too far gone that he couldn’t recognize the concern in Rachel’s eyes.  
               “Rach…”  
               “The results came in today,” she muttered, her movements rigid.  
               “Have you—”  
               “No. I was waiting for you to come home. It’s on the nightstand.”  
               Daniel took a slightly staggered step towards his wife, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. “No matter what happens… I love you.”  
               They hugged for a moment, then Rachel moved towards the nightstand, tearing bits of paper off the envelope, though not quite enough to actually open it. Daniel steadied her hand as she slid the letter into his. He took a breath, then tore it open and slipped the letter out. He was aware of himself as his breath caught. Positive. She’d tested positive for the prion disease. It was everything they’d feared. Daniel collapsed onto the bed as Rachel glanced down at the paper in his hand, and her reaction was the same.

               The next morning, everyone was quiet at the breakfast table. Aradia could tell something was wrong, and that was before she saw her mother burst into tears into her oatmeal.  
               “Mom?” Aradia said, getting out of her own chair and walking around to her mother’s. “Mom, what’s wrong?”  
               “Oh…it’s… just a minute, sweetie,” Rachel said, sniffling and trying to calm herself down before bustling into the bathroom to give herself a moment. Aradia turned to her father.  
               “Dad, what’s wrong with Mom?”  
               “Well… it’s kind of complicated.” Aradia let herself into Daniel’s lap, settling her head onto the table.  
               “I don’t like seeing her sad.”  
               “I don’t either, sweetheart, but…”  
               “Daniel!” Rachel’s voice called as she came back into the kitchen. “You were going to… wait before saying anything, right?”  
               “Of course.”  
               Rachel sat back down, and took Aradia’s hand from across the table. “Aradia, honey, we got very bad news last night. You know how Mommy’s been at the doctor a lot lately?” Aradia nodded. “Well… he says my brain is really sick. And… and they don’t know that there’s a way to fix it.”  
               “But… you’ll be okay, right?”  
               “I’m…”  
               Daniel cut in. “The doctors are going to do everything they can to keep your mother with us as long as possible, but she’s got something called a prion disease.”  
               “What’s a prion disease?”  
               “It means that certain parts of Mom’s body are… they’re folded wrong, and they’re hurting other parts. It’s very complicated, sweetie.”  
               Aradia pondered what her parents were saying. Her mom didn’t seem sick all the time. Sometimes she forgot things, and sometimes she had trouble talking, but Aradia wasn’t sure if that really meant anything. Everybody forgot things.

               It wasn’t long before Rachel was hospitalized, and not long after that that Aradia wasn’t able to visit. Rachel’s deteriorating mind brought in early-onset dementia, and she nearly assaulted her husband and daughter every time they came in. Daniel could handle it, but Aradia he deemed too young, though the truth may have been that he didn’t want Aradia to see her mother like that. They’d known, since the day the letter came in that Rachel would die. Prion diseases had a 100% fatality rate. As distraught as Daniel was over the loss, he never let himself cry in front of Aradia. She needed him to be strong, now more than ever. He promised himself that he would be her rock, her safe place. It would just be the two of them facing the world together. Hopefully he could do right by her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt from an anon on tumblr: Could you do one with Aradia's mom, maybe before she got ill?  
> Here you go, anon! Though this may be a bit sadder than I originally intended.
> 
> I went with a prion disease because I've never seen it before? What Rachel has specifically is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which is caused by what is basically a harmful protein (prion) signalling normal proteins to malform themselves and slowly deteriorates the brain. As I said in the piece, there is no known cure yet for prion diseases and they have a 100% fatality rate as far as I can tell.


	4. Anniversary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt from NamelessMessangar: I really love how close Aridia and her dad are post-Aridias mum's death, can you maybe write a little something about the two of them being happy and like, having a day where they have fun?

        It had been almost a year since Rachel Droog’s passing. To be precise, it was the day before the anniversary. Daniel was doing… well, he was doing better. As well as any single father could do. Their daughter, Aradia, was 10, and she seemed happy, for the most part, but the closer they got to the anniversary, the more depressed she seemed. It was to be expected, but Daniel hated to see her so sad. So, he began to formulate a plan. He would not let the anniversary be a sad day. They couldn’t handle having a day of pure depression every year. Rachel would want them to have fun.

         Aradia didn’t know what it was, but she could tell her father had something in the works. As if she hadn’t already caught on, it was when he drove right past the school.  
       “Dad?”  
       “Yeah?”  
       “You missed the school.”  
       “You’re not going to school today; I’m taking you somewhere way better,” Daniel grinned, flashing two Disneyland passes at Aradia.  
       “Oh my gosh, we’re going to Disneyland? That is SO COOL, you’re the best dad ever!”

        It was a bit of a drive, but the two made it to Disneyland in one piece, Daniel suppressing his road rage as much as he could. His temper wasn’t as bad as Spencer Slick’s, but driving in Anaheim was a nightmare. The two were relieved to see the park wasn’t too crowded, seeing as it was a Tuesday in the middle of October. Aradia was glad to spend some time with her father. She dragged him on every ride, but her favorite was the Haunted Mansion, which they wound up going on multiple times. They screamed together on Space Mountain and bought overpriced sugary treats and watched World of Color and laughed together, listening to Disney songs the entire way home. Aradia was exhausted by the time she and her father got back, and she basically passed out as soon as she got onto her bed, but not before Daniel could wish her sweet dreams.  
       “I’m glad you had a good time today, sweetheart,” he said, standing in the doorframe.  
       “I’m glad _we_ had a good time,” she corrected him with a light smile.  
       “Yeah.” They were quiet for a moment. “Say… do you wanna make this a tradition?”  
       “What?”  
       “Once a year, you and I take a day off and spend it together. Try new fun stuff… I don’t know. Thought it might be nice.”  
       Aradia pondered over it for a moment. She knew what he was trying to do. “You’re trying to make Mom’s death-a-versary a happy day for us.”  
       “Yeah… hey. It can be like she’s there with us. As long as we remember her, she’s not really gone.”  
       “Really?” Aradia asked. Daniel nodded at her. “Hmm… what do you think her favorite ride today was?” Daniel chuckled.  
       “Splash Mountain; definitely.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little short, but I thought this might be a fun little thing that becomes a tradition for them and also ties into Aradia's beliefs about death


	5. The Final Sermon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Solomon Vantas makes a final stand

            Candace Peixes wore a determined expression as she stepped out of her car outside the Vantas-Leijon home. Darius Zahhak did the same, standing stoically beside her.  
            “Where is Grant?” Candace asked, impatient.  
            “I believe Duncan requested his assistance with something,” Darius answered. “If not, I hope he’s getting those boys of his under control.” There was a tone of bitterness in his voice. The youngest Makara had recently assaulted his son.  
            “Keep your gripes to yourself, Zahhak,” Candace spat at him. “We’re here with business.”  
            “Are you sure this is necessary?”  
            Candace turned around, staring him down. “Are you questioning me? I thought you wanted better for this town.”  
            “I do, I am just not sure that justifies murder.”  
            “Solomon Vantas has been a thorn in my side for too long. He needs to be taken out of the picture. Permanently. And you know I would never want to get my hands dirty, which is why you have so generously offered to help. Right?” Candace asked, though it was evident that she was looking for a specific answer. The whole thing was an intricate scheme. Candace had the entire town in her pocket. She ran practically all the companies; the mayor (Grant Henry Braxton Makara, III) was in league with her, and now she was blackmailing Darius into helping by promising to increase funding to the private high schools and wealthy areas of town. He had no doubt that the system he was playing into would effectively cut off the lower class. Candace’s motto was basically, if you can’t afford it, guess you’re out of luck. The social and financial hierarchy was out in full force in Skaia. The problem was Solomon. He’d been bringing awareness not only to social issues that Darius personally couldn’t say he agreed with (there was talk of letting kids use whatever bathroom they wanted; that just felt wrong) but also the general aura of corruption that was ruling the city. Which, of course, drove Candace nuts. People had started listening to Solomon, believing him, fighting back and boycotting to the point that the cops were beginning an investigation of Candace’s practices in regards to stifling the lower class. She couldn’t just buy them out this time, either. She could bribe the street cops into looking the other way (which she would probably do if either of them got caught today) but the detective—Rebecca Pyrope—was not likely to accept it. Darius knew he couldn’t tell Candace no without it making his life a living hell.  
            “Of course, Miss Peixes.”  
            “There’s the right answer,” she cooed at him. “Did you get my little package?”  
            “Yes, though it was unnecessary. You know I have a number of firearms at my disposal.”  
            “Darius, dear, yours are traceable. Use my goddamn pistol.” Darius sighed, lifting his button-down shirt just enough to show the gun he had holstered. It was, in fact, the one Candace had sent to his house. He’d barely retrieved it in time to keep Horuss, his eldest son, away from it. “Perfect. Let’s go.”

            Solomon was in the kitchen of his house, starting work on dinner when he heard a pounding on the door. “Hmm… that’s odd…” he muttered to himself. Before he could even make it to the front room, he heard another pound, and then a splintering crack, and the door was broken in half. A hulking man and a rather slender, tall woman with an absolutely insane amount of hair let themselves in through the hall. Solomon tightened his grip on the knife in his hand, hiding it behind his back.  
            “Candace Peixes,” Solomon hissed. “And Darius Zahhak,” he added, sounding a bit more surprised than angry. “Might I ask just _what the fuck_ you’re doing breaking into my house?”  
            Candace didn’t look at him, instead just perusing the knick-knacks on the shelf and framed pictures lining the walls. “Oh, this is a nice one, don’t you think, Darius?” she indicated a picture of Solomon and his fiancée, and all their children standing in front of the very house they were now in. “Oh, and this one too!” A young Solomon, in the arms of his adoptive mother.  
            “Stop playing games, Peixes,” Solomon snarled.  
            “I just thought someone ought to admire these pictures,” she said, her voice sickly sweet, even if it was fake. “After all, it’s not as if you’ll get to anymore,” she added, turning sharply to face him. Darius pulled his gun out, aiming it right at Solomon, whose bravado immediately faltered as he took a step back. “I’ve had more than enough of you, Vantas, driving everyone against me.”  
            “You’re evil,” Solomon spat at her. “You’re fucking sick.”  
            “You flatterer!” Candace smiled, then she turned to Darius. “Do it.”  
            In a split second, two things happened—Solomon lunged at Darius with the knife, and he took a bullet to the shoulder. The knife fell to the ground. Solomon reeled backwards a few steps and grabbed his shoulder, the blood thick and sticky on his fingers. Darius raised the gun again. “Anything else you’d like to say, you fucking blabbermouth?”  
            Solomon was breathing heavy. He chewed on his words for a moment. “I have been peaceful. I have been kind. I only dare to speak what others have been dreaming for so long. I have dreams, too. Dreams of what might have been. Where all of us are equal. If wishing for that is heresy, then, yes, I suppose I deserve this. I’ve experienced acts of the most sublime kindness, and the most vile cruelty. They say powerful beings find anger when they have no room for love. What made you so? Are you scared of change? Scared of those who are different? I realize I am different than you, my sons are different from you. I have known feelings that neither of you can ever hope to know. I have known the camaraderie of a friend who supported me against all odds. I have known the compassion of a mother who took me in when no others would, and raised me to dream and hope. I have known love and passion that transcends definition. There is no use hiding it anymore. You have seen me for what I am. And now my blood burns brightly for others to see. It is a flame of a rebellion that you cannot ever hope to quell. My memory can be erased, but my idles will never die. My mistake was believing that I could change a place infected by hate and corruption. You have taken the freedom of an innocent man and turned his blessings into a curse. I see you for what you are. I always FUCKING HAVE. I THOUGHT I COULD CHANGE YOU! FUCK ME FOR BEING A FUCKING FOOL! FUCK! FUCK FUCK FUUUUUUUUCK… fuck. I am angry… because I forgive you… I may be the biggest fucking fool in the world, but when I close my eyes I see a world where we all work together.  And it’s so fucking beautiful.”  
            “You fucking windbag,” Candace said, her voice dripping with disdain. “Just finish this already,” she said, waving a hand dismissively at Darius as she walked back towards the broken door. Another bang, another shot, this one landing in the lower abdominal region, underneath Solomon’s ribcage. He let out a painful gasp. The rest was a blur.

            Dessie was more than a little confused when she spotted Darius Zahhak getting into his car on her street. He didn’t live anywhere near there. A look of surprise shot across his face as well, and he stepped out of the car again as Dessie pulled into her driveway.  
            “Dessie!” he called from across the street. She waved at him, a bit unsuredly. “How’re you doing today?” Darius started walking towards her. Dessie was pretty familiar with him; their kids were best friends.  
            “Uh, I’m alright. What brings you to this part of town?”  
            “Just some… business dealings,” he answered.  
            “Darius!” another voice called. Dessie’s eyes flicked over to the source. Candace Peixes… the town’s local HEAD (BITCH) IN CHARGE—the H(B)IC. Everyone on Dessie’s side of town loathed her. “Finish the job,” she said, giving a head-tilt towards Dessie. Darius’ hand flicked towards his waist, just showing off enough of what was holstered there to give Dessie a flick of panic. She suddenly had a terrible premonition about what had happened that afternoon. Darius couldn’t bring himself to raise a gun at her, though, and she could tell. Their eyes locked, and he gave a very small, subtle nod to her just before she darted into the house. “You’re pathetic; let’s get out of here,” Candace shouted at Darius.  
            The scene inside the house was a mess. Solomon was on the floor, blood pooling around his shoulder, where it looked one shot had gone in and out. There was another injury on his stomach, but no exit wound. Dessie’s mind flicked rapidly between panicking and going into nurse mode. “Solomon!”  
            “D-Dess?”  
            “Yes, love, it’s me.”  
            “I’m going to die, aren’t I?”  
            “No. No, I am not going to let you die here,” she said, feeling a spark of determination. She moved as quickly as she could, calling 911 as she got the most absorbent towel she could find. She spoke to the operator while doing what she could to prolong Solomon’s state of consciousness. “Please, please, I need a hospital. My hus—fiancé, my fiancé, he’s been shot. Twice. Yes. Oh uh. 612 Lopah Lane. Hurry!” She hung up, stroking Solomon’s cheek. “Hang in there, love,” she muttered. He was still conscious and breathing, so that was good. Dessie made another call, this one to Karkat.  
            “Hello?” Karkat answered.  
            “Karkat! Oh my God,” Dessie glanced around, only just then fully taking in the scene. “Karkat, honey, meet me at the hospi—there’s so much blood!—at the hospital.” It was proving a challenge, but Dessie wanted to stay calm. If she panicked, the kids would panic. But she was definitely starting to panic.  
            “What? Why? What’s going on?”  
            “L-listen, just get Nepeta and get to the hospital, I have to—” Dessie glanced back at Solomon, who was trying to shift the towel she’d tied off under his armpit and around the wounded shoulder. “—no, keep that there, it might staunch it a little—there’s not a lot of time to explain,” she said, speaking to Karkat again. A siren wailed in the distance.  
            “What happened?” Karkat asked again.  
            “I-it was… I came home, there’s a bullet, and blood everywhere, I… I—Solomon!” she shouted. His eyes were drifting closed.  
            “Is Dad okay?”  
            “No, he’s… oh god. He’s been shot. I have to go!”

            Kankri had his phone on silent. They’d moved him up to the ER reception area, which was much busier, and the last time he’d taken a call at work it was nothing but bad news. Turns out he didn’t need his phone to get bad news. His head was up when the next person burst through the door, and he immediately stood up at the desk. Dessie had just come in, along with Kankri’s father, who was strapped into a gurney, blood on his shoulder and stomach. “Father!” Kankri exclaimed. The medics didn’t stop, Solomon was escorted straight to the trauma center. Kankri gave his coworker a panicked glance.  
            “Go,” she said, and Kankri was down the hallway in an instant.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh this was part of the reason i even wanted to do the bonus scenes.  
> i wanted to give some more on the ancestors as well as dessie's perspective of walking on to that scene


	6. The First Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat and Dave say some very important words and do some very important things.

            “I still can’t believe you got your ears gauged," Karkat griped.  
            “It's been like a year, Karkat,” Dave answered.  
            "Why did you even make me come with you?"  
            "You didn't have to. I'm just buying some new gauges. I thought you liked the mall."  
            Dave and Karkat been officially boyfriends for over a year, after all that shit that went down when they were Freshman. But Karkat didn’t care for the giant fucking holes Dave had punched in his ears.  
            “Why is everyone trying to look like a damn punk now? Even Tavros got a septum piercing.”  
            “That’s so basic,” Dave muttered. “Seriously, a septum piercing?” He was perusing the selection of gauges. “Hey Kar,” Dave said. Karkat wandered over to join him. “What if we got matching ones?” Dave pointed at the red-rimmed gauges. Karkat smacked him in the shoulder.  
            “I’m not putting holes in my ears like that!”  
            “Damn,” Dave laughed a little bit. “It was worth a shot.”  
            “I’m pretty sure I’ve made my stance on this clear.”  
            “Figured I’d ask. You’d look hot as hell.” Karkat turned tomato-red and smacked Dave in the shoulder again.  
            “I stopped dyeing my hair for you; how much do you really think you’re going to get away with?” Karkat crossed his arms.  
            “No, you stopped dyeing your hair because it was too high maintenance and you were tired of getting stains on the towels. The fact that I find it incredibly attractive is just a bonus,” Dave answered with a snicker.  
            “Stop hitting on me; just pick out your damn gauges so we can go home already.” Dave laughed again and picked out a few pairs of gauges, some in different sizes, so he could switch them out. Some of the more notable selections were the basic red-rimmed ones he’d shown Karkat, a pair that were metallic and transparent with little metal gears inside, and a pair with the Cancer zodiac symbol painted on in silver. “You’re an idiot, you know that, right?”  
            “Yeah, but I’m _your_ idiot.”

             The next time Dave and Karkat went to the mall, it was to shop for Homecoming. Karkat had just re-worn his shirt from Freshman year the year before, but he’d finally managed to hit his growth spurt and the damn thing was too short in the sleeves now. He was still shorter than Dave, something Dave never managed to let him forget, but it was nice to finally be more than two inches taller than Nepeta.

            “Hey Kar, would you kill me if I got a white suit jacket?” Dave asked as they perused the formal section of Macy’s, the only department store that didn’t make Karkat feel totally trashy.  
            “White’s the color of innocence. You are far from innocent.”  
            “I thought white was for virginity. If that’s the case, then it would be fine,” Dave’s voice had a bitter note in it.  
            “Yeah, you wanna display that to every idiot in the school?”  
            “Maybe not…”  
            “Besides, you’ll spill something on it; I just know it,” Karkat muttered. “Just get the red one; I know you want it.” Dave quirked an eyebrow upwards.  
            “So we’re sticking with red and black?”  
            “Yeah? It compliments both of us.”  
            “You’re so predictable.”  
            “Well sorry I’m not the fashion CZAR you are. Dumbass.” Dave rolled his eyes behind his shades, something Karkat had to basically train himself to look for, and then took the red jacket and a black shirt into the fitting room. Karkat sighed and followed suit.  
            “I don’t know, Karkat, I think this is getting played out,” Dave said from the next fitting room over. Karkat investigated himself in the mirror.  
            “I think I look good in this one,” Karkat muttered, more to himself than to answer Dave.  
            “Shit, dude, get what you want.”  
            “Yeah, I’m going to! I want to have some kind of color scheme, though. We didn’t get to match last year,” Karkat stepped out of the fitting room. “Come out here, I want your opinion.”  
            Dave wasn’t wearing his jacket when he came out, just the black button-down, and his sunglasses had been set aside. He looked at Karkat up and down, looking more than satisfied. He cleared his throat. “Get the one with the black piping; I have an idea,” Dave said, not bothering to elaborate more than that.  
            “And what, white shirt, black tie?”  
            “Black shirt, red tie. Bowtie, actually,” Dave said as he disappeared back into the fitting room.  
            “What is with your love affair with bowties? I’m not getting a shitting bowtie.”  
            “You’re so difficult,” Dave sighed. “Fine, don’t get a bowtie. Thought you wanted to match, but if you’re so worried I’m cheating on you with a piece of fabric… seriously, how do you always figure out what I’m up to? Do you have some secret third eye you’re not telling me about? Got some crazy x-ray vision or something? Karkat, if you’ve got superpowers you have to let me in on the secret. I can be your Pepper Potts.”  
            “Of all the superhero significant others you could choose, why on Earth did you choose Pepper? Nevermind, I’ll get the stupid bowtie if it will make you shut up.”  
            Dave didn’t end up buying anything that day, which annoyed Karkat to no end. He hated when Dave plotted and planned things; it made him feel out of the loop. But, whatever, if he was going to be cagey, it probably meant he was trying to be sweet.

            Dave was late picking Karkat up. Dessie wanted to take pictures of the two of them (and Nepeta and Oliver) before all of them went over to Feferi’s for what had become the traditional _huge_ photo session, so Karkat was _already_ pissed off when he went to the door, but all of that absolutely melted when Karkat opened the door. Dave was standing there, his undercut freshly shaved, hair swept off to the side, showing off a pair of wooden gauges with two hearts inside the circle, one within the other, and he was wearing a suit jacket that was like red and black marbled, in stripes together with a white shirt and a matching bowtie. Karkat had never in his life found Dave Strider more attractive than he did in that moment. Holy shit. There was a small black backpack hanging off one shoulder, that Karkat couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at.  
            “What’s in the bag?” he asked.  
            “Don’t worry about it,” Dave answered. So stoic. So mysterious. Such a load of garbage.

            The dance was mediocre, just like it was every year, but it was the aftermath where shit went down. Everyone went back to Feferi’s after the dance ended; her mom was out of town on business, and Rose had (admittedly, with an amount of hesitation) convinced her sister to convince her friends to get some… illicit substances for the party. Roxy still couldn’t drink herself, but she was so close to being able to that no one batted an eye at helping her get stuff, not knowing it was going to be taken by a bunch of 16-year-olds. Karkat even partook, against his better judgement, and after both were considerably intoxicated, Dave and Karkat danced even more to the pounding music in Feferi’s living room. The only completely sober person in the room was Rose. As they danced, Dave was behind Karkat, his arms around Karkat, and slowly drifting down without realizing. He grabbed just below Karkat’s waist. Karkat yelped in surprise.  
            “Davvvv…” he whined a little bit.  
            “Opps, sorry,” Dave mumbled. Karkat just laughed and turned back to face Dave. It was his turn to “accidentally” grope his boyfriend. He grabbed Dave’s ass, but Dave didn’t say anything or pull away, instead bringing himself closer to Karkat, letting them grind on each other. He kissed Karkat’s cheek, giving small little pecks moving downwards, nibbling lightly on Karkat’s neck. Karkat whimpered, and Dave pressed their lips together drunkenly.  
            “Daave, stopppp,” Karkat muttered.  
            “Can’t help muhself,” Dave whispered back. “Your are jus’ so cute. I wanna… mm.”  
            “Yeh… I know,” Karkat answered, marginally aware that the conversation was being drowned out by the music. He thanked God for that. “Dav. You’re… soooooo hot. In tha’ suit.”  
            Dave laughed. Not his usual, quiet snicker of a laugh. It was loud and boisterous. “Whaaaat?”  
            “I saw you, at m’ door earlier, and. God. Damn. I wanna… do thingssss to you.”  
            Dave’s eyebrows shot so high they almost fell off of his face. He wordlessly pulled Karkat away from the crowd, and they staggered up the stairs into one of Feferi’s guest rooms. Both kicked their shoes and socks off, and then Karkat fell onto the bed, laughing, looking up at Dave, who’d crawled over him. Karkat pushed Dave’s hair out of his face, then let out another laugh when it just fell back into the center.  
            “You’re silly,” Dave said, still very tipsy.  
            “Your gauges… what the fuck!” Karkat cackled.  
            “I… wore them f’reason.”  
            “Dun say somethin’ corny,” Karkat muttered, but Dave cut him off at the last second.  
            “Love you.”  
            They both were silent for a moment, just staring at each other’s red eyes, watching their cheeks turn pink. And then Karkat wrapped his arms around Dave and pulled him down until they were nose to nose, and then he kissed Dave about as aggressively as he could. It was a push, a demand for reciprocation. Dave’s hand ran down Karkat’s cheeks, while Karkat’s hands ran down Dave’s back, pulling him closer until they were stomach to stomach, still kissing. Dave’s lips wandered down Karkat’s neck again, giving small little nibbles as he went. Karkat whined, wrestling with Dave’s jacket. Dave laughed, then sat up and took his jacket off, and Karkat did the same, muttering curse words to himself as he struggled. Dave laughed again, then crawled back over Karkat and kissed him hard again, worming his legs between Karkat’s and nudging Karkat’s crotch with his knee. Karkat moaned into Dave’s mouth and brought his hands up to his chest, wrapped around, let his fingers tangle in Dave’s perfect hair. The shaved bits were nice to touch. Dave let one hand wander underneath Karkat’s button-down, tracing little shapes along his waist. Karkat whimpered again and bucked his hips into Dave. Dave let out a small gasp. Karkat was getting impatient. His hand was back at Dave’s chest, fumbling with the buttons. He did them slowly, fighting with the alcohol-induced fog his brain was in. Once Dave’s shirt was off, Dave did the same to Karkat. God, just the feeling of their skin touching was incredible. Karkat traced the lines on Dave’s arms, then leaned over and started kissing all of them.  
            “Waht’re you doin’ Kar?”  
            “’M kissin’ all your scars. Gonna make ‘em better,” Karkat slurred.  
            “God tha’sso fucking precious. I love you so much, Karkat.”  
            “You’re jus’ saying that ‘cause you’re drunk.”  
            “No, it’s true!!” Dave exclaimed, louder than he meant to. Karkat didn’t answer, crawling around to Dave’s back and kissing between his shoulder blades and up and down all the rest of his scars.  
            “M’kay. You’rer in love…AND you’re hot.” Karkat reached around and palmed Dave’s cock through his pants.  
            “Yeh…” Dave muttered, his breath hitching a bit as Karkat ran his hand over him. “Thas not fair,” Dave whined at Karkat.  
            “Is never fair. You alwaysss lok so—” Karkat was interrupted by a hiccup, “—so attractive. ‘S like, crazy amounts of slelf restrain not to do this sooner.” Dave was glad Karkat was behind him; he couldn’t see exactly what shade of pink he just turned. He turned onto his back, letting Karkat lean over him this time. Karkat took this as a challenge and unbuttoned Dave’s pants, sliding them off before taking off his own. Karkat fell on top of him, now only two pairs of boxers between both their raging boners. He kept palming Dave on top of his boxers, and Karkat leaned up and kissed Dave on the neck.  
            “Karkat, d’you love me?”  
            “What?”  
            “D’you… love me?” Dave repeated, a giddy smile on his face.  
            “Yeh, o’coursh I do. Dummy,” Karkat said, and then he went back to what he was doing, kissing his way down Dave’s body. Dave laughed.  
            “Dude you jus’ said you love me, tha’ssooooo gay.”  
            “You’re an idiot,” Karkat mumbled. “Was about to put your dick in m’mougth and _tha’s_ the thing that’s gay here.” Dave smirked and reached his hand down Karkat’s boxers, stroking Karkat’s hard-on. Karkat crumbled on Dave’s chest, making little sounds of wanting. Dave took his hand away and Karkat only whined more. “You’re bein’ a tease.”  
            “Shh, jus… stay there.” Karkat collapsed into the comforter while Dave fished around in his tiny little backpack. The mattress re-settled as Dave dropped down and took Karkat’s boxers off. Karkat heard a squirt, and then a cold, gel-like liquid dripped onto his ass. He whined again, attempting to stifle himself with a pillow. The bed shifted again, and Karkat assumed it was Dave taking his own boxers off, getting onto his knees behind Karkat. Dave’s left hand wrapped around Karkat’s waist and began stroking him again, while he used his right hand to play with Karkat’s asshole. One finger slid in easily with the lube, and Karkat moaned loudly.  
            “Hnng, Daveee,” he moaned. Dave leaned over and kissed Karkat between his shoulder blades as he slid his finger in and out, now focused only on that. He slowly prodded with a second finger, and Karkat moaned again. Dave took his time; he didn’t want to hurt Karkat. He picked up the bottle of lube again with his left hand, put it between his teeth, and poured a generous amount on his own throbbing member before dropping the bottle and stroking himself a little bit to spread it.  
            “K-Kar, ‘re you SHORE you’re ready?” Dave asked. Karkat’s only answer was another loud moan.  
            “Kar?”  
            “Y-yeah. I w-wanna do this.” Dave nodded, then slowly removed his fingers from Karkat’s asshole and pressed the tip of his cock in. Karkat reached back, spreading his cheeks as Dave pushed himself further insider Karkat. They both let out moans simultaneously. “H-holy shit, Dave,” Karkat muttered. Dave grabbed Karkat’s waist, and let himself thrust a bit faster.  
            “Ohhh my god… Karkat…” Dave blindly grabbed at Karkat’s hair with one hand, keeping the other at his waist, his hips slamming into Karkat’s behind and both their hearts hammering with the same ferocity.  
            “Dave, I think ‘m gonna… ‘m gonna!” Karkat couldn’t even finish the thought, spurting right onto the blankets. Dave quickly pulled out and gave his dick a tug before finishing himself, all over Karkat’s back.  
            “Holy fuck,” Dave gasped, out of breath.  
            “Litrally,” Karkat mumbled as he fell onto his stomach. “Oh man… I jus’ jizzed on the bed… Fef’ri’s gonna kill us.”  
            “Krill us?” Dave said, glancing at Karkat with a smirk. Karkat just eyed him for a moment with his head half-buried in the pillows, and then both of them cracked up. Dave stood up after a moment, pulling his boxers back on as he explored the house in search of a towel and quietly praying nobody else would wander upstairs. Feferi had said they could all spend the night, probably due to the alcohol, and even so, Dave wasn’t an idiot; he wasn’t planning on driving home either way. He cleaned Karkat up and Karkat put his own underwear back on and they settled into bed together.

            When Karkat woke up the next morning, he was vaguely aware of what had conspired the night before, but there was one thing that stuck out to him. Dave was already awake.  
            “Hey Dave?” Karkat asked.  
            “Yeah?”  
            “Did you mean what you said last night?”  
            “What, that sex was great? Hell yeah,” Dave smirked.  
            “Not that, you insufferable jackass! The part where you said… you loved me.”  
            Dave was quiet, looking away from Karkat. Great, so he really _had_ just said it because he was drunk. Dave’s face was brightening, turning pink. “Of course I meant it,” Dave answered. Karkat’s heart fluttered. “I love you, Karkat.”  
            “I love you too, Dave.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lollll i wanted to write this scene to practice writing smut because ive literally never done that? managed to avoid it in the main series but haaaa yeah here you go ((lmao i should have been writing an essay))
> 
> as mentioned they're like 16 in this and also drunk? but very much consenting
> 
> oh also i looked up the ear gauges and suit i wanted dave to be wearing  
> gauges: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/8a/7f/f7/8a7ff7a0843c3b3fbdb11aa1139d6377.jpg  
> suit: https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1WXy0JpXXXXcrXVXXq6xXFXXXS/Luxury-Men-font-b-Suit-b-font-Unique-font-b-Red-b-font-Zebra-Pattern-One.jpg


	7. The Dog Park

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> somekindoffan: CAN I REQUEST A STORY ABOUT JADE AND NEPETA HANGING OUT?

     “Nepeta, come on, I know you’ll like the dog park if you give it a chance,” Jade whined over the phone.  
     “But what if there’s a bunch of big dogs there?!”  
     “You like Bec, don’t you? You promised. I need to socialize him better.”  
     Nepeta pouted, knowing full well Jade couldn’t see her. Karkat had flaked out on her for some reason, probably related to his budding relationship, and she’d promised Jade aaaaages ago that if Karkat ever bailed on her, she’d be the backup, though she didn’t understand why Jade couldn’t just go to the dog park alone, or with Jake. Oh, right. Dave and Dirk were on a double-date, which also took up Jake and Karkat’s time, leaving Jade by herself. “Fiiiiine…” Nepeta sighed.  
     “Yesss!” Jade said. Nepeta could just imagine her clenching her fist in success. “Okay, it’s not far from your neighborhood, actually. I’ll walk by with Bec soon and we can go.”

     The two girls went to the dog park and let Jade’s great huskie off his leash. Huskies were big, but Becquerel was _biiiig_. Nepeta plopped onto a nearby bench and took her notebook out while Jade tossed a Frisbee for Bec.  
     “Okay, well since I came with you, you gotta help me update my shipping chart,” Nepeta said. Jade threw the toy, then sat next to Nepeta while the dog was off getting it.  
     “Sure thing.”  
     “Okay, so… after all the shenanigans during the school year, who’s officially a thing? Aradia and Sollux.”  
     “I wanna know your cute ship names,” Jade said, tossing Bec’s Frisbee again.  
     “They are… Arasol. Or Apocalisp,” Nepeta jotted it down to remind herself it was ‘canon’. The next on her list was Tavros. “He didn’t end up with anyone, did he?”  
     “Who?”  
     “Tavros.”  
     “Oh. No. I thought Gamzee had a crush on him, but Gamzee… I don’t know what ended up happening to him?”  
     Nepeta frowned, remembering the day Gamzee attacked her and Equius. “I think he’s getting mental help…”  
     “Oh.” Jade looked slightly off-put. “Okay, well, then there’s Karkat next, right? He and Dave; what’s their name?”  
     “Davekat… hmm,” Nepeta pondered. A small dog wandered up and sniffed her leg. She rescinded, pulling her legs up onto the bench. Jade giggled at her. “Um. What was theirs?” She’d had a good idea, and forgot to write it down. “Oh! Crabapple!”  
     Jade laughed again. “Because Kar’s crabby and Dave loves apple juice?”  
     “Mhm! I thought it was a silly one. And then there’s me and Oliver.”  
     “Clumsy Cats,” Jade remarked. “CATastrophe?”   
     “Hey!”  
     “He’s the clumsy one here, not you!”  
     “Hmm… I’ll think about that one more,” Nepeta said, but she did write ‘Clumsy Cats’ in her journal. The alliteration was nice. “Rosemary,” she said, pointing to the next on the list.  
     “Is that Rose and Kanaya?”  
     “Yeah.”  
     “Okay. Who’s next?”  
     “Ter… no, wait. Vriska and John. I don’t have a cute name for them yet,” Nepeta said thoughtfully.  
     “Hm. Nic-Caged? They both love him for some reason,” Jade said. Bec returned yet again, and laid down in the grass beside the two girls.  
     “I dunno… Spiderbreath?”  
     “I don’t get it.”  
     “Isn’t John always playing Heroes of Breath in that SBURB game?” Nepeta asked. She hadn’t gotten much into it.  
     “Oh! I guess you’re right!” Jade exclaimed. “Bec, go play with some other dogs,” she said to the huskie. His ears perked up. Jade nudged him with her foot and he got up, making a sound almost like a sigh. “Is that all of them?”  
     “Yeah, I mean, I have some for like friendship names, but Equius, Gamzee, Eridan, and Fef aren’t dating anyone,” Nepeta explained, plainly leaving out the fact that she had whole other lists of pairings she wanted to happen. Feferi and Sollux had been pretty cute in the brief time they dated, but clearly that didn’t last. “Oh, and then there’s Jake and Dirk—that’s ‘Pumpkin Patch’, but I don’t have any more.” Jade laughed.  
     “Okay, well guess you’re up to date then!” Somewhere in the distance, Jade and Nepeta heard a loud ‘boof!’ and Jade’s eyes widened. Bec was causing trouble. What a devilbeast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo so here's just a short little drabble about jade and nep bein friends and hanging out. nothing much really happens but idk i like them just bein friends and hanging out.
> 
> this occurs in the summer after their freshman year  
> and SBURB is probs some kind of RPG or MOBA.


	8. First Breakup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John has to end things with Vriska

            John let out a deep breath before walking over to Vriska’s house. The truth was, despite having a pretty good year (and some) together, John was starting to feel like Vriska was reverting to her old ways. That was to say, she used to be pretty insensitive and disregarded how she treated people in a rude, abrasive manner resulted in them not wanting to be around her, and she seemed to shape up in the second half of their Freshman year. Seeing that effort at a change was what made John want to finally ask her out, but now, right at the end of their Sophomore year, Vriska was starting to forget about all the progress she’d made. And unless John was mistaken, her old crush on Tavros was flaring up again. All in all, they were growing apart, and that was fine. It was just that, Vriska was his first girlfriend, and he hated the idea of having to break up with her, but that was where he found himself. And it sucked. And things had been harder since Jane left for school. She, while being a bit awkward about her friends and her feelings for Jake, usually had good advice for John, and it wasn’t the same for him to talk to his dad about things. He just assumed it would be time for “the talk”, which was certainly not something John was ready for. With an incredible amount of hesitation, John knocked on Vriska’s door. This was bound to be an unhappy Saturday. Vriska opened the door, grinning, her face framed by blue hair.  
            “Hey John!” she said, giving him a quick peck.   
            “Hey,” he answered as he stepped inside, only mildly aware of the fact that he wasn’t smiling. “You changed your hair.”  
            “Yeah! I thought it would look cooler this way than just dip-dyeing it.”  
            “It looks good.”  
            Vriska’s smiled sort of faded as she looked at John, seeming to notice the distress on his face. “John. What’s wrong.”  
            John sighed and huffed and shuffled his feet as he tried to figure out how to phrase things without sounding cliche as hell, before finally looking back up at Vriska. “I think we should talk,” he muttered. Vriska took a breath, then retreated into her living room, sitting down on the couch. John followed, sitting next to her, neither of them talking for a moment.  
            “‘We should talk’ is usually a bad sign,” Vriska said. “You’re gonna break up with me, aren’t you?”  
            “Um. Yeah,” John admitted, feeling a weight in his chest. “I’m really sorry, Vriska, and I do really care about you, but I just… feel like you’re taking a step backwards. I really thought you had started to change, when we started dating, but in the last few months it’s been all about you, with no regard for my feelings, or your friends’ feelings, and it’s just like nobody else matters to you. Not even me.”  
            “You don’t have to explain, John. I get it. Nobody wants to be around me anymore. But you know what, that’s okay. Because I am who I am and I shouldn’t have to change to get peoples’ approval.”  
            “You know, I agree with the idea of being yourself, but sometimes you do need an attitude check, and I can’t do it anymore. Besides, you never got over Tavros, did you?”  
            “I’m sorry, what?” Vriska said, a harsh tone entering her voice. “Wait, what? You still think I have a thing for Tavros when I’ve been dating you for over a year?” She sounded angry, and then she just laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous, John.”  
            “Sorry,” John muttered, looking down at the floor. “Uh. Maybe I should go.” He stood up and started heading towards the door, completely baffled by the fact that Vriska was laughing during what was supposed to be a serious conversation.   
            “John, wait! I hope we’re not parting on bad terms here. You aren’t holding all this shit against me like Tavros is, right? He kind of decided he couldn’t handle me anymore and friend-dumped me. But us; we’re still cool, right John?”   
            “Uh…”  
            “If we have to break up, I get that, but I really want us to stay friends! We still have a special bond, John.”  
            John hesitated. Could he really handle any type of relationship with her? He sighed. “It’s fine. We can stay friends. I don’t really like to make enemies with people, even if they’re…”  
            “Even if they’re what?”  
            “Umm,” John paused, wondering how best to phrase things once again. Vriska was such an interesting, complex person, that explaining his feelings took a lot out of him. “Vriska, I have to be honest. When we first talked, it was a lot of fun to get to know you. And I admit, I’ve loved you since then. But I guess I never quite realized how little I actually understood you; I just got swept up in the idea of even having a girlfriend. I tried to reserve judgement, like maybe it was stuff from your childhood I didn’t get. But seeing how everyone else felt about it, the ones who have known you for years, I think it’s more complicated than that. And I know I’m not like you. Maybe this time was for a good cause, but I’ve felt kind of fucked up about it. I defended you to my friends, and they stopped wanting to be around us as a couple, and I miss them. I’ve had enough. And we can be friends, but honestly…  
            “Honestly what?” Vriska asked, her tone harsh again.   
            “I’m just trying to tell you the truth! I just dunno if my conscience can justify being around someone so… dangerous.” That felt very relieving to say, even though the rest of the situation sucked. John wasn’t being suffocated by his own feelings anymore. He’d laid it all out.   
            “Fine. We just won’t be friends then. Actually, you know what? Even if you change your mind some day, forget it! I don’t even want your friendship anymore.”  
            “You don’t?”   
            “No. I’ve been fine on my own for this long. What’s a little longer. I don’t want anyone’s pity. So beat it, Egbert.” John just stared at her. Was he supposed to take the bait and console her, or listen to her words and leave? Vriska had always been impossible to gauge; ‘testing’ him as a boyfriend in these ridiculous ways. She looked angry, but dejected. Honestly, John had expected a fight, not a challenge. After another moment, Vriska looked back at him, and anger overcame sadness. “WELL????????”  
            “Huh?”  
            “John, I thought you were leaving.”  
            “Oh. Right…” he murmured, and then opened her front door again, stepping back out. He stood on the doorstep for a moment, pushed his glass up, and rubbed the tears out of his eyes, unsure whether that went better or worse than he’d expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Requested by Phantom5001: I actually do have a special request and that's to get a chapter of Johns and Vriskas breakup.


	9. At the Carnival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aradia and Sollux have their first date.

     Aradia couldn’t pretend she wasn’t nervous as her father dropped her off at the county fair. While it was true she’d hung out with Sollux alone before, that was always with the pretense of neither of them wanting to make a move on the other. But this? This was an actual  _ date,  _ with the context of  _ being a date.  _ Aradia was still shocked by the mere concept that Sollux kissed her at the graduation ceremony. It was actually absurd that their crushes on each other were finally developing into something more. She went up to the ticket booth, paid the entrance fee, and bought 25 ride tickets, then went towards the funhouse, where she and Sollux planned to meet. He was there waiting for her, wearing a bright yellow knit vest with a bee on it over a white collared shirt. She laughed a bit and Sollux blushed at her, knowing exactly what she was reacting to.   
     “My dads made me let Mituna help with an outfit. Since, ya know, he  _ has  _ a girlfriend,” Sollux explained.   
     “Well  _ I  _ think it’s cute,” Aradia smiled, then pecked Sollux on the cheek, smiling as his cheeks slowly turned red. Sollux looked flustered for a moment, then squinted off in the distance.    
     “Oh no… don’t look now, but Dave and Karkat are here,” he grumbled. Aradia turned around instinctively, and sure enough, there they were. She kind of wondered how Dave got him out of the house; Karkat was always refusing daytime activities because he “had sensitive skin”, but apparently liked Dave enough to do something about it.   
     “Hm. Do you wanna go say hi to them?”   
     “Um… maybe later. No offense to them or anything, but I don’t want to turn this into a double-date just yet. I’d rather spend some time with just you.” It was Aradia’s turn to blush. Sollux really was a sweetheart underneath the self-deprecating jokes (which he’d been making less since he started going to therapy and taking his meds) and mildly grumpy exterior.   
     “Okay. Let’s hit some rides then,” Aradia smiled, grabbing Sollux’s hand. They started off with the funhouse, since they were right there, and then some other rides. Aradia even managed to get Sollux on  _ The Zipper _ , which was very exciting and mildly terrifying-- the two spent the entire time clinging to each other and screaming-- before heading off to the midway games, where they did finally run into Dave and Karkat. Karkat was holding a giant stuffed crab and looked mildly put out at Dave.  
     “Why’d you have to choose the biggest prize at the fucking booth?”  
     “The biggest prize at the booth was  _ you,  _ dummy.”  
     “Then why am I carrying this stupid thing!”  
     “Man, for a guy who loves romcoms… I thought you’d appreciate the ‘win your SO a prize at the carnival’ thing. If you don’t want it, I’ll take it.”  
     Karkat paused. “No… I like it.”  
     “Hey guys,” Aradia said, neither of them having noticed her and Sollux walking up towards them. Karkat looked not only surprised, but mildly embarrassed at them having heard that exchange.   
     Dave grinned. “Hey Ara, hey Sol.” Sollux just waved. Karkat squeezed his crab tighter. “Enjoying the carnival?”  
     “Mhm,” Sollux muttered. “We were just gonna play some games.”  
     “We were just heading over to the dart game. Wanna give it a shot?” Dave offered. “That cool, Kar?”  
     “Yeah, sure,” Karkat mumbled. Sollux wasn’t sure why he was being so odd. No more grouchy than usual, but definitely more sullen and less… well, less  _ shouty.  _ The four of them walked over to the dart game. Dave told Karkat it was his turn to win a prize, and Sollux sort of took this as a chance to win something for Aradia and partake in that cliche for himself. As they scooted up to the booth, Sollux looked at Karkat, who’d handed the crab off to Dave for the time being.  
     “Dude, you feeling alright?” Sollux asked, throwing his first dart. Karkat threw his, then glanced at Sollux.  
     “Yeah, why?”  
     “You were just acting odd when Aradia and I came over.”  
     “Don’t be so astute and sensitive.”  
     “Okay, so I shouldn’t be worried about my friends? Noted.”  
     “Dude, come  _ on.  _ It’s just… Dave was so weird about us being seen together for a while. I was worried he’d start retreating again.” Karkat grunted at his miss with the second dart.   
     “Well he seems to be alright-- Yes!-- with us being around, and with you guys being a couple.”   
     “Yeah, he’s been a lot different about it since school ended. Anyway I don’t want your first date with Aradia turn into you giving me therapy so don’t worry about it,” Karkat said. “Like you said, he seems okay with it. ARE YOU SERIOUS I MISSED EVERY SINGLE TIME!”  
     Sollux nodded, and threw his last dart, hitting another balloon. “Two out of three,” he muttered.  
     “Of  _ course  _ you’d hit  _ two.”  _ The guy running the booth handed Sollux a stuffed animal, notably smaller than the one Karkat had been carrying, but Sollux gave it to Aradia anyway and she beamed at him. They hung out with Dave and Karkat a bit longer, but after a while Karkat said they had to go because he ran out of sunscreen. Sollux nodded at him, knowing  _ exactly  _ why Karkat was quick to rush off, and then he and Aradia bought some funnel cake and sat down on incredibly uncomfortable hay bale benches.   
     “I’m really glad you asked me to come out with you, Sollux,” Aradia said. “I’m having a good time.”  
     Sollux smiled a bit. “Yeah, me too. I know the carnival is kind of dumb, but--”  
     “No, no, I love it! But you know, it doesn’t matter what we do. I just like spending time with you. I’ve always kind of had a crush on you.”  
     “Yeah, I know-- I MEAN I’ve always kind of had a crush on you too. It’s nice we’re finally… doing something about it.”  
     “It’s cute that you’re so nervous around me,” Aradia laughed a bit, “but you don’t need to be. We always used to hang out.”  
     “Yeah but this is… like… a  _ date.”  _ Despite telling Sollux not to be nervous, that it was no different, but she knew what he meant. It  _ was  _ different. And she felt a little hypocritical, but her nerves were surprisingly assuaged when Sollux reached across the table and took her hand. They were together. That was all there was to it. No need to overthink or worry, because they were  _ together.  _ They both liked each other. Sollux looked at her, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Aradia, I don’t want to do this weird grey area thing because I can’t deal with not knowing, so… do you want to be my girlfriend?”  
     She faltered for a moment, feeling a surprised grin and blush spreading across her face. “Sol, I… yeah! Of course I do!” Sollux grinned back at her, then leaned across the table and kissed her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Requested by Phantom5001: maybe one of Aradia and Sollux's first date
> 
> Also here's the Zipper for reference (it's fuckin wild) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3OiAlvpw2w


End file.
